I think im the first one to post on it so here goes.
"However, you mustn't forget that if you're in the market for an AMD processor, be prepared to shell out at least 50 dollars for a powerful cooler. Cheap run-of-the-mill coolers costing as little as 15 dollars can only be used for speeds up to 1200 MHz."
So all those people who got volcanos for 10 bucks are screwed? What about the default heatsink, this line is utter bs!
"At the low resolution of 640 x 480, the Pentium 4/2000 is in the lead, while the AMD Athlon XP 1800+, boosted by the enhanced Nvidia driver, takes the lead at the high resolution. "
So the p4 wasnt boosted by the same driver? Sounds a tad biased to me, what does everyone else think?
"A comment on Sysmark 2001 - despite the fact that AMD sent us a patch activating the recognition of the SSE command set in Media Encoder 7.1, which is included in the benchmark suite, we didn't use it. The reason for this was that users can't update the Media Encoder in reality. There is no official update from BAPCo yet. "
LOL, ok tom, whatever you say.
Another one of the reasons is Windows XP, being forced as the successor to Windows 98/ME and Windows 2000 by Microsoft. In comparison to the past, the Athlon XP can profit from Windows XP, probably more than Intel CPUs. It seems that AMD helped Microsoft get the optimum out of its new CPUs. "
So much for those sse2 optimisations.
Thats pretty much what I gathed from that review, it seemd as though tom had to grudgingly admit the xp is faster, but had to add those small shots at amd in there. Maybe I am reading into the comments a tad too much.
Anyways, decent review, if not way late(been done weeks ago).
~Matisaro~
"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
~Tbird1.3@1.5~
Well, the heatsink comment struck me as utter bs, and while I read the article I posted all of the biased/untrue comments in the review. A highlights of sorts.
~Matisaro~
"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
~Tbird1.3@1.5~
The HS thing isn't 100% true, however, a better heatsink can lengthen the life of other parts, as heat plays off itself. A hot running Video card heats up the MB, and in turn heats up the CPU.
I haven't seen any heat tollerances for any components listed in many of the specs, how hot can a CPU run without problems? And other components for that matter?
60 FPS, 70 FPS, 80 FPS Crash!
Daylight comes and I have to go to work
What I found interesting, is that the one benchmark where AMD got it's butt kicked, was the one that was optimized for SSE2, and yet the review didn't address that.
However, I thought that in general, it was a thorough investigation into CPUs and how they work.
As far as the driver issue, Nvidia's first set of drivers weren't optimized for the AMD chips, so that is where that reference comes from. It was a short lived problem though.
60 FPS, 70 FPS, 80 FPS Crash!
Daylight comes and I have to go to work
After the dubious overheating test, he is now shooting at AMD again! Tom has been pretty neutral regarding processor brands until recently. Now surprisingly he seems to be inclined towards Intel.
I had browsed through the article, and was disappointed at exactly the same points he raised. Well, i was disappointed by his CPU heating review too, and I had too much to say so I write a complete <A HREF="http://www.64bits.org/cpuheat/cpuheat1.htm" target="_new">article</A> to express it.
This CPU comparison could also take a article, but Mat made it short and to the point. I agree with all his comments.
girish
<font color=red>No system is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>
"A comment on Sysmark 2001 - despite the fact that AMD sent us a patch activating the recognition of the SSE command set in Media Encoder 7.1, which is included in the benchmark suite, we didn't use it. The reason for this was that users can't update the Media Encoder in reality. There is no official update from BAPCo yet. "
That makes perfect sense to me. If the consumer can't have it, it's an infalted benchmark.
I think the first comment (about heatsinks) is pretty off, but I'll re-read the article and wait for Frank to return my email before commenting further.
Burger, the benchmark does not enable sse2 due to an admitted flaw(using the string genuine intel to detect sse support). I see that as a glaring flaw especially on a benchmark, if he had such moral objections to using the patch to level the playing field, he should not have used an obviously broken benchmark in the first place.
~Matisaro~
"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
~Tbird1.3@1.5~
Actually, if anything, I felt the wording of the review was skewed towards AMD. So I think you could probably see it either way, depending on your preferences.
strange method to ascertain SSE capability, look for "GenuineIntel" and thats it! as if <i>ALL</i> intel processors right from the 486 (that returned CPUID) to P4 support SSE!
I remember a software called SolidWorks99, it dint work on <i>any</i> AMD processor, you wouldn't imagine what error it would return!
<font color=blue>AMD processor detected!</font color=blue> and did a exit!! maybe allergic to AMD processors, all of them - I tried it on K6, Duron and Slot-A Athlon.
girish
<font color=red>No system is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>
...well, our pal Tom actually admitted that XP1800 was the fastest CPU, he crownded the XP1500 "Best value".
It is hard to admit the truth for a man with Toms "Pride", so he had to give AMD some punches, I think it is plain pathetic to do so... And he even left the XP1900 results out, because Intel had looked plain silly if P4 hadn't won som benches...
But, it is quite good to look at the numbers anyway, and they will surely annoy some people! LOL
>The results were favoring AMD because the xp1800 is the faster chip, but the words of the review seemed to take every possible shot at AMD they could
boo hoo, it seems to me that the P4 systems Tom uses are less prone to headaches! than a AMD system, btw where you around when Tom would take a shot at Intel almost every day?
ooh, the AXP wins some non-SSE2 tests, ooh, I should be afraid, oooh! AMD trounces the P4, ooooh, I must tremble, oooh.
"<b>AMD/VIA!</b>...you are <i>still</i> the weakest link, good bye!"
